About 20 people gathered in the basement of Bethlehem's Wired Cafe Saturday to take part in a national effort to provide a counterweight to the conservative tea party movement. Something was brewing.

They're calling it the Coffee Party.

Local organizer Bill Bekkenhuis, an information technology worker from Bethlehem, scheduled the meeting, part of a national movement started by documentary filmmaker and former Obama campaign volunteer Annabel Parkusing her Facebook account.

Park has said was frustrated that the conservative tea party movement appeared to be getting more media exposure than it deserved. She called for citizens to get involved in government and a more reasoned public debate.

While tea party activists want less government, coffee party activists say they just want government to work better, Bekkenhuis said, describing the movement as a more leftist version of the tea party.

"We believe bad government is the problem," Bekkenhuis said.

The group reported between 350-400 similar meetings across the nation. Participants were asked to talk about the issues and come up with signs that crystallized what they thought the movement should be about.

There was a lot of discussion in Bethlehem about how to promote a more civil debate about the issues that the nation is grappling with, including health care reform.

Tea party activists and other shrill voices have gotten too much attention, said Merle Waterman of Moore Township.

"I want to say to the media, listen to other people," she said.

The Bethlehem crowd came up with "coffee and accountability" and "reform and inform."